This weekend ended on a heartbreaking turn as the former Mets pitcher Craig Kimbrel’s younger brother died in a motorcycle crash Saturday, just weeks after Kimbrel signed with Kansas City. When the 2026 MLB postseason is less than a week away, such news is making waves across baseball instead of home runs, playoff races, or October glory. It doesn’t end here, as an unexpected national anthem moment at Chase Field also caught attention on the same day.

What could have been an awkward moment for Jesse McGuire quickly turned into a memorable recovery, proving that even baseball’s strangest setbacks can create unforgettable moments. But while McGuire found a way to bounce back, Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo could be facing a far more difficult road ahead. With Arizona potentially missing the postseason for the eighth time in nine years, questions about Lovullo’s future are becoming impossible to ignore.

Here’s today’s quick recap:

Heartbreaking news coming from Craig Kimbrel’s family

“Tragic news: Former Mets pitcher Craig Kimbrel lost his younger brother in a motorcycle crash in Alabama on Saturday morning. Prayers up.” Mets Batflip shared via X.

Kimbrel signed with the Kansas City Royals last month, and just a month after that, he faced a tragic personal loss. His brother and former Atlanta Braves pitcher Matt Kimbrel passed away.

According to police, Matt was speeding on his bike in Huntsville, Alabama, at around 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 19, when a dump truck ahead of him on Highway 431 slowed to turn. Unfortunately, he couldn’t slow down his bike and slid into the truck.

Per the Madison County coroner, Matt was alive when he arrived at the hospital but died from his injuries. Investigations are still ongoing, and we have yet to receive further updates about any charges being pressed.

The tragedy deepened when Genevieve Hartman, Matt’s fiancée, revealed he was days away from marriage.

“My fiancé passed away, and right now I truly don’t have the words,” Matt’s wife-to-be, Hartman, wrote on Facebook, just hours after the fatal collision.

“I know there are people who love us and will have questions, but I’m asking for a little time and space before I’m ready to talk about what happened or say anything more. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we try to process this unimaginable loss. I’ll share more when I’m ready.”

Matt was first drafted by the Braves in 2011, and he played in the minor leagues for three years. He played 43 games and recorded a 7.04 ERA. Craig, too, was drafted by Atlanta.

After signing with the team in 2007, he was called up in 2010. By 2011, he was on the team’s roster and broke the Braves’ rookie record for the most saves in a season. The Royals are his 12th MLB team after getting DFA’d by the Mets in May.

But amid this personal loss, we saw something motivating, as well.

Jesse McGuire’s trumpet malfunction

Jesse McGuire had one job: play the national anthem flawlessly.

He famously performed the national anthem at an Arizona Diamondbacks game in 2021. That performance was part of the team’s official 20th anniversary celebration of its historic 2001 World Series championship, where McGuire had originally served as a “good-luck charm” and famously played the solo anthem before Game 7.

McGuire returned to Chase Field on Saturday to commemorate 25 years since the 2001 World Series. However, his trumpet malfunctioned in the middle of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

McGuire didn’t panic.

Instead, he improvized brilliantly.

The 68-year-old former lead trumpeter for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra quickly abandoned the broken instrument, grabbed the microphone, and sang the remainder of the national anthem to a roaring standing ovation.

“In 40 years of playing, I have never missed that high note,” McGuire told NBC News. “My entire reputation was at stake. So I couldn’t quit. I had to keep going.”

While McGuire’s performance was to celebrate the Diamondbacks’ last World Series victory against the New York Yankees, Saturday was different for the D-Backs.

Torey Lovullo is in a hot seat

The Yankees won 9-2, deepening Lovullo’s playoff crisis.

“I understand it; it’s the realities of this game,” Lovullo noted, “and you got to win. That’s what it comes down to. I think we won a lot here. Have we won enough?”

Torey Lovullo holds an all-time managerial record of 745–766 (.493 winning percentage) across his 10 seasons leading the Diamondbacks. Since taking over in 2017, Lovullo has led the Diamondbacks to the playoffs only twice: 2017 and 2023. With his contract expiring after 2026, a playoff miss this season likely signals the end of his tenure.

The Diamondbacks are 4 wins behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Wild Card race. With just six games left, they effectively need to sweep their remaining games and receive considerable help (losses by the Phillies and Padres) to sneak into the final postseason bracket.

By acknowledging the Diamondbacks’ probable action, Lovullo may have accepted his team’s fate for the 2026 season. It is not the first time that he is facing a job risk.

A brutal 110-loss season in 2021 placed him on the edge. Instead of a long-term commitment, he was placed on a series of short, year-to-year contract extensions, effectively keeping him under constant evaluation.

Discussing all that, the Dodgers is also not out the conversation.

MLB is still holding on to Mark Walter

Since the Los Angeles owner, Mark Walter, faced federal investigations due to his alleged undisclosed related-party loans involving his insurance companies, fans looked up to MLB about its actions. But according to USA TODAY, MLB has “no plans to remove” Mark Walter as Dodgers owner.

Walter sold his Lakers stake to Iger and Kushner ($12.5B valuation) and divested from the Premier League club to Clearlake Capital. He and co-owner Todd Boehly fully sold their respective stakes in the English Premier League club to Clearlake Capital.

It was rumored that Walter would give up on the Dodgers, too, and considering the Dodgers’ deferred payments stand at around $2 billion, it will create a storm in MLB. Dodgers president Stan Kasten, though, cleared the air:

“The Dodgers are not being sold. They’re not for sale. There’s no process that has been started to sell it, period,” Kasten said.

“I can’t tell you how important the Dodgers are to Mark. The Lakers thing? The Lakers were important to him too, but it’s kind of an extraordinary opportunity, which he took.”

The prime allegations against Walter were that his insurers, such as Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life, improperly funneled policyholder money into entities controlled by or affiliated with Walter. He is not charged, but the investigations are ongoing.

For MLB to initiate an action, the investigations need to conclude.

That’s all for today. Keep your tab here because we will be back with another episode.